Final postgame notes
-- The Kings avoided a sweep at the hands of San Jose with the 4-3 victory and finished the season series 1-3-2 against the Sharks. San Jose had already clinched the best record in the NHL when Buffalo beat Boston this morning.
-- The Kings finished the season with a 34-37-11 record, for 79 points. They scored 207 goals and allowed 234 goals, went 18-15-8 at home and 16-22-3 on the road.
-- For comparison, last season the Kings went 32-43-7, for 71 points. They scored 231 goals and allowed 266 goals, went 17-21-3 at home and 15-22-4 on the road.
-- For those looking at the draft, the Kings now have the seventh-worst record, although they could drop to fifth-worst if Phoenix gets two points against the Ducks tonight and if Toronto gets a least one point tonight against Ottawa.
-- Michal Handzus had a goal to complete a strong comeback season. Handzus played all 82 games for a second consecutive season, and this time he totaled 18 goals and 24 assists. Last season, Handzus had seven goals and 14 assists.
-- Wayne Simmonds had one goal and one assist to complete a strong rookie season. Simmonds played all 82 games and had nine goals and 14 assists. He finished strong, with three goals and two assists in his last four games.
-- Davis Drewiske had two assists for his first career multi-point game.
-- Jonathan Quick made 27 of 30 saves to get the win and finish the season with a 21-18-2 record.
-- Alexander Frolov had a goal, to finish the season as the Kings' team leader with 32 goals. Frolov is now a two-time 30-goal scorer (he scored 35 in 2006-07) but his point total has fallen from 71 in 2006-07 to 67 last season to 59 this season.
-- Peter Harrold had a goal. The goal, his fourth of the season, ended a 30-game stretch without a point and a 33-game stretch without a goal. Harrold's previous goal was scored on Jan. 12 against Tampa Bay.
-- Anze Kopitar did not have a point, but finished the season as the team leader in assists (39) and points (66). That's the fewest points for a Kings team leader since Luc Robitaille had a team-high 51 points in 2003-04.
-- The Kings were outshot 30-24 and failed to crack the 30-shot plateau in seven of their last eight games.
-- The Kings went 1-for-5 on the power play and 3-for-6 on the penalty kill. The Kings had failed to score a power-play goal in eight of their previous nine games but had gone 20-for-21 on the penalty kill in their previous five games.
-- Justin Williams, who had an assist, and Davis Drewiske each had a team-high four shots on goal. Matt Greene and Dustin Brown each had a team-high six hits.
-- Drew Doughty led the Kings in ice time (as he did for the season) at 23:03. Alexander Frolov led all Kings forwards at 21:47.
-- Five Kings played in all 82 games: Matt Greene, Sean O'Donnell, Anze Kopitar, Michal Handzus and Wayne Simmonds.
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Rich Hammond has covered the Kings, on a full-time or part-time basis, since the 2000-01 season. He was the beat writer for the entire John Torchetti era and has witnessed Bob Miller singing country music in a Nashville honky-tonk bar. A native of Los Angeles, Rich has worked at the Daily News since 1999 and also serves as the paper's deputy sports editor. E-mail Rich at rich.hammond@dailynews.com.
Jill Painter joined the Daily News in 2000 and during the last eight years she's covered the Dodgers, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Kings, golf and everything in between. Even though she's from Colorado, she still freezes in the Staples Center press box but always manages to thaw her fingers in time to make deadline. E-mail Jill at jill.painter@dailynews.com.
So much for drafting in the Top Five. The Kings can't do anything right!
A nice win.....I guess. I'm left to hope C'bus takes care of business today against the Wild and keeps the Quacks in the 7 or 8 spot.
DL, the clock starts now.
DL's clock started running on April 21, 2006. What do we have to show for it? Two words.....Draft Picks.
We have a vacant Owner, incompetent GM and clueless Coach. Not exactly the kind of Hat Trick we longtime Kings Fans deserve.
Down south in Anaheim, they already have one Stanley Cup. Who knows, if they continue to play like they have over the past month, they might be hoisting Lord Stanley again in June.
David - Don't look now, but Toronto and Phoenix are both winning by two goals. The Kings may yet climb into 5th place overall!
Toronto loses by winning, and the Kings "climb" into 6th. Phoenix is still up by two in the third, so 5th is just within reach...
Great game played by the Kings. I know people want them to drop but this shows they have pride and that's something to build on for next season.
Davis Drewiske, not a flawless defenseman, but generally very impressive. Solid minutes even-stength, on pp and pk. 2 points, easily could have had 3.
When Gauthair got suspended this Drew came up and played solidly. Comes up again, same thing. Quincey goes down and he picks it up. Good vision, good passing, positioning, good poise for a rookie, rushes the puck, jumps into the play, pinches are timely, gets back well.
He's not the key to the team, but could be a good part of it for a long time cuz he's never going to be too expensive.
Congratulations on being first star on the last game of the season. What a way to go out.